Walking Tours of Tunbridge Wells for Oxfam - Sunday 3rd and 10th July 2011

Exciting news - I am able to announce that this year's theme for Oxfam's Book Festival Fortnight (2nd to 17th July 2011) is Local History, and as such the Manager of Tunbridge Wells' Oxfam Bookshop, Sandra Cousins, has asked me to undertake some local history walking tours on their behalf.

There will be more in the local press over the next few weeks but I thought I would give all my site readers the opportunity to hear about the walks first, and hopefully for you all to book your places on them!

I wanted to do something different with the tours and as such we will be starting from the top end of Tunbridge Wells, outside the Library and Museum entrance. A lot of tours explore the Pantiles and not the rest of town, and there is so much history around Tunbridge Wells that I thought it deserved some attention this time.

Tunbridge Wells Library/Museum Entrance

There will be the opportunity to go behind the scenes at The Opera House, now a Wetherspoon's pub; plus an enjoyable stroll around the town looking at things you may or may not have noticed before. 

We will be ending back at the Oxfam Book shop so you will have the opportunity to buy any of the local books on sale inside. And an added incentive for you all to buy tickets is that half of the ticket price, yes that's right, 50% of the ticket price, will be going to Oxfam.

For those of you unaware of Oxfam, it is a charitable organisation formed in 1942, its first shop opening in Oxford in 1948. Its aim originally was to raise money to relieve famine conditions around the world. Today Oxfam works in 98 countries around the world and works directly with communities to help them improve their lives and conditions. There are over 200,000 volunteers who work for Oxfam, many in their shops or bookshops. I was one a few years ago. Oxfam has many goals that have grown out of the initial aim to eliminate famine, please take a look at their website for more information: www.oxfam.org

The walks will be taking place on Sunday 3rd and 10th of July during the Book Festival Fortnight. The tours are for locals and tourists alike. On both Sunday's the tours will be either 10.30 or 13.30 from outside the Library/Museum. Please note that this is a ticket only event, you cannot turn up and buy tickets on the day. Numbers are also limited for each group, so book early!

Tickets are £6.00 and can only be purchased via the Tunbridge Wells' Oxfam Bookshop either in person, by telephone (01892 616269) or via email: oxfamshopf4428@oxfam.org.uk  For any queries regarding this tour, please contact the Oxfam Bookshop, not myself.

Please ensure that you wear appropriate clothing for any weather eventualities! Rain will not stop play. Ensure that you are also wearing suitable footwear too - no high heels please ladies (or gents!). Dogs are welcome as long as they are on leads and well behaved; however they will not be allowed within the Opera House, unless Guide Dogs. The tour lasts approximately 1 1/2 to 2 hours, depending on walking speeds, so please ensure that you are able to walk for that amount of time. You will also need to be able to manage stairs as we will climbing some when within the Opera House.

So why not come and raise some money for Oxfam, and enjoy a lovely Sunday stroll, before or after your roast dinner around Royal Tunbridge Wells with me!

The Antiques Roadshow came to Kent - did you go?

Last Thursday, 16th June, the very popular BBC programme, The Antiques Roadshow, descended upon the historic Hever Castle, the childhood home of Anne Boleyn, second wife of King Henry VIII and mother to Queen Elizabeth I.

Hever Castle, Kent

The Antiques Roadshow has really been a stalwart of Sunday evening viewing in the UK, certainly for me since childhood. It was a love/hate relationship to start with - I think I would have preferred cartoons if they had been on, but I grew to love watching the programme and it really is part of the British psyche. Sunday's just wouldn't be the same without it and I can even now hear the opening theme tune in my head...

The Antiques Roadshow logo

The programme began as a pilot in 1977 then officially as The Antiques Roadshow in 1979. News presenter Fiona Bruce has been the current presenter of the show since 2008. A bit like Doctor Who, everyone has a presenter they grew up with, mine was Hugh Scully; though I know a lot of people, including my parents, remember Arthur Negus.

Again I think everyone has their favourite parts of the show and experts. I adore Henry Sandon, not only because of his expertise in ceramics but he reminds me (and probably lots of people) of my grandad, even though my grandad, at 95 is still going strong. I can imagine that he is exactly the same in real life as on TV, and I think because he's been on the show as far as I can remember he is a comforting continuity.

The objects I really look forward to seeing are the jewellery, toys and often the more obscure items that pop up from time to time. Just the thought that someone may have an unknown Lalique or Faberge makes compelling viewing.

One of the experts on the show has his showroom and home here in the South East, in Edenbridge, Kent - The Edenbridge Galleries. His name is Lennox Cato and he is one of the furniture experts. Cutting his teeth in the trade around the lanes of Brighton, East Sussex, Lennox's first sale was aged 14, and by 19 he was running his own shop. The South East is an antique hunters paradise - from Brasted and Tenterden to Dorking and Brighton. If Antiques are your passion, come and discover the cream of the South East through Discover South East England. Let us create a tour just for you or for your group. 

Lennox Cato

In 2009 the show came to my old place of work, The Assembly Rooms in Bath. Owned by the National Trust it houses the Fashion Museum within it. Working at the Museum you would also be in charge of the Assembly rooms as well; and what a place to work! Built in 1769 by the architect John Wood the Younger, it houses the Tea Room, still slightly pink on the walls from fire when bombed in the Second World War; the Octagon Room, where cards used to be played; and the magnificent Ballroom, where Jane Austen used to dance when she visited Bath.

Ballroom in The Assembly Rooms, Bath

All three rooms house beautiful chandeliers, my favourite being the Octagon Room chandelier; but the most priceless ones being in the Ballroom. Made of Austrian crystal they were cleaned once a year if I recall correctly, and were a major undertaking that was wonderful to behold. What did the Antiques Roadshow find at the Assembly Rooms? Well,they valued the chandeliers, in the Ballroom alone, at £7 million! The biggest valuation on the show. Stunning!

The new series will probably be starting again in the autumn, and hopefully the show filmed at Hever Castle will uncover new hidden gems for us to "ooh" and "ahhh" at. It's going to be well worth a watch, why not be one of the 6 million people who tune in every week who do so.

Hollywood comes to Tunbridge Wells

The rumour mill has certainly been hot in Tunbridge Wells at the beginning of this week.

The local paper, The Courier, reported a few weeks back that the old Morrison's Supermarket site in Tunbridge Wells, opposite the station, is "allegedly" to be used by a Hollywood film crew as a location for zombie movie World War Z, starring Brad Pitt. It's been excitement ever since here, and yesterday the rumour mill went into overdrive as it was alleged Pitt was spotted at a local pub. Today it is said he has been seen on the historic Pantiles as well as in a local park enjoying a run.

Brad Pitt

Whether true or not, Kent is a very popular location for films to be shot. Most recently Knole House in Sevenoaks was used in the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie: On Stranger Tides; in the 2009 Sherlock Holmes film featuring Robert Downey Jnr and Jude Law a number of scenes were shot at the historic dockyards in Chatham; and the 2008 film The Other Boleyn Girl, starring Scarlett Johansson and Natalie Portman, was shot around the local area, including at Anne Boleyn's actual childhood home, Hever Castle.

Knole House, Sevenoaks

If you and your family love the movies, then Discover South East England runs Film Tours created specially to your interests. Please contact me for more details: info@discoversoutheastengland.co.uk

Visit to the Holburn Museum in Bath

Recently I headed back to my childhood stomping ground, and as I always do I made sure I spent some time in the beautiful and historic UNESCO World Heritage city of Bath. It's not far from my parent's house and was a regular weekly Saturday trip for me when I lived at home; even more so when I worked at The Fashion Museum in Bath many years ago.

Pultney Bridge, Bath

This visit was not just for the fabulous shopping and Saturday Farmer's Market, one of the first local Farmer's Market in the UK (begun in 1997), but to go and see the newly opened Holburne Museum on Great Pultney Street. This art collection, that was bequeathed to the city in 1882, has been closed for the past 3 years, as a new extension has been added to the Neo-Classical building by architect Eric Parry. It reopened on 14 May this year.

Front of The Holburne Museum, Bath

Controversial at the time, when you are actually within the new extension there is no hint of its modernity. Even from the outside I felt that although rather unusual, in its own right it had a not unpleasant look to it. Green mottled ceramic tiles seem to make up the extension with a lot of glass used too of sharp vertical lines. From the back it looks like some modern Gothic Cathedral!

New extension to Holburne Museum

The weather was very pleasant that day but I do have to say it was rather warm inside the museum even though it wasn't overly crowded. I do hope that they have some air conditioning within the main house itself. The only cold room appeared to be the Picture Gallery, which kept the Gainsborough's, Turner's and Stubb's at a constant cool temperature.

The collection of Sir Thomas William Holburn includes not just paintings but a fantastic Majolica and Meissen collection, furniture, silver, plus smaller objects such as miniatures, coins and jewels. I really loved that in the new galleries you could pull open drawers beneath the main displays and see even more of the collection laid out for you. A lot of people in the Galleries didn't realise you could do this, and a very kind member of staff was on hand showing people. Children can have fun in the Museum too as most of the bottom drawers contained activities for them.

There was no map as such as far as I could see at the entrance that was free to take around, unless they had run out of them, though to be honest the Museum is not so vast that you would get lost. A Guidebook was available to purchase at the Visitor Desk for £9.95 (price as of June 2011). There was also a small shop by the entrance, but I have to say that myself and my partner were so enjoying the Museum that we forgot to go back there to have a look around! Maybe they will eventually have a shop online too?

There was a waiter/waitress service cafe through the back of the Museum, in the new extension. Comfy looking chairs inside and outside, plus some very scrumptious salads and cakes were on display tempting the visitor. Once outside the back one could walk through a gate and be within the lovely Sydney Gardens, Bath's oldest park. Known locally as "little Venice" due to the number of bridges that cross the park over the River Avon and railway, the park contains Classical Temples and was once frequented by the author Jane Austen as well as royalty.

Sydney Gardens, Bath

One of the temporary exhibitions on display that should really be kept at the Museum is by the artist Karen Wallis, who over the 3 years of the new build, sketched and recorded the whole building works. Around the top of the room hang quick pencil sketches of all the people involved, from the Museum Curator to the electrician! The walls are covered with her work and her sketchbooks can be viewed via a computer where the pages can be turned. The sketches are quick, vivid and express movement and really bring to life, in black and white, the progress of the works.

The Museum is open 7 days a week, Monday to Saturday 10:00 to 17:00 and Sunday from 11:00 to 17:00. Entrance is FREE, though there is a charge for the Temporary Exhibitions.

British Silver Week at Payne & Son, Tunbridge Wells

From 7th to 25th June, one of the oldest family of jewellers in the UK, is celebrating British Silver Week right here in Tunbridge Wells.

Payne & Son have been in operation since 1790 and opened their shop in Tunbridge Wells in 1870. You can find the shop along the old High Street, with its distinctive clock hanging overhead. It is still a very traditional establishment in that you have to be buzzed into the premises, but once inside its like an Aladdin's cave. Payne's not only sell jewellery but ceramics, gift ware and many other things besides. Please take a look at their website link. You can also find them on Blogger too.

I went along last Thursday, 9th June, to have a look at the exhibitors and also to see one of the silversmith's from the exhibition, Steve Wager, show us how he produces a silver spoon by hand. The staff at Payne & Son plied us with glasses of champagne and talked us through all the products with their friendly and knowledgeable manner.

It was fascinating watching a real craftsman and Steve talked us through the whole process. I didn't realise how much skill was involved making even something simple as a spoon. The final product emerged from a 1 ounce silver ingot after around half an hour of careful hammering. There was lots of heating and even sulphuric acid used to keep the silver clean. Steve told me that it usually takes around 45 minutes to produce a spoon. Amazing.

Steve Wager at work

If you are visiting, do call in, and fill out a form, as until the 25th June, you can enter Payne & Son's competition to win the silver spoon Steve produced. And while you are there don't forget to have a look around - there is a great display of clocks upstairs, including the very unusual Grasshopper Clock.

Grasshopper Clock

Greetings to all my International Friends!

I should really take the opportunity to thank all of you who have been following/reading my blog over the past few months since I started it. I hope you have been enjoying it and there is much more to come!

It is rather exciting to think that my blog is being read by so many people all over the world - I am currently being read by people not just in the UK, but the USA, Canada, Germany, Denmark, France, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Czech Republic, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Belgium and China! Wow and a huge welcome to all my international readers and friends!

Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions, not just about the South East of England, but the UK as a whole, and keep on passing on the news about my blog to all your friends around the world. I hope that one day we will meet in person on one of my tours!

If you want to follow me on Twitter as well, then please just search for @cathdiscoversee

Myself and the Duchess of Norfolk

I thought you would all like to see a picture of me receiving my Guiding award and Badge from the Duchess of Norfolk at Rochester Cathedral a few weeks back. As my previous post explained it really was a magical evening, topped off with the surprise of gaining Best Cathedral Tour Guide 2011!

Treasure Hunts

Perhaps it is something you haven't considered before, but Treasure Hunts are certainly a different and fun way to explore and discover an area or place, through a series of tasks and clues.

I organise Treasure Hunts through Discover South East England, as well as help out with those run by Brighton Walks (see: www.brightonwalks.com).

Treasure Hunts can be a great idea not just as an alternative corporate team building activity, but is a great ideafor school groups, birthday parties, and is very popular for hen and stag parties too. They can also be themed and you can even dress up if you want to, to join in the fun!

For more details of the Treasure Hunts available please contact me either via my email: catherine@discoversoutheastengland.co.uk or ring 07759 226060.

"Kent, Sir - everyone knows Kent - apples, cherries, hops and women"

The rain eventually came to the South East earlier this week, though it seems to have disappeared again. We really have had a very dry Spring here. The gardens certainly needed any rain they could get - keeps the Garden of England looking lush and green.

Of course, with all this dry weather, all the crops and fruit are also early this year and there is a real glut of cherries, strawberries, raspberries, gooseberries and blackcurrants in the garden at the moment, at least 2 weeks early. It's taken all us gardeners by surprise!

I love seeing the many cherry sellers along the roadside here in Kent. Cherries are typically a Kentish product, as pointed out in the quote in the title above from Charles Dickens' Pickwick Papers. Selling the glut of produce by the road is a tradition that still continues here, so don't forget when you are driving around to stop off and pick up a big paper bag or two of those sweet delights. I prefer them just fresh and straight off the stalk. I don't think they ever get back to the house!

Making jam is one way of using up the fruit, but I always find freezing fruit is a great way to ensure there is plenty for winter time and the comforting crumbles that are made; however when there are too many it would be a crime not to use it fresh and create a lovely light blackcurrant or gooseberry fool! Easy as pie with just fruit, sugar and fresh cream. Yum!

When the gooseberries are ready for picking, another flower that is a fantastic accompaniment with them, is also ready - that is elderflower. Not only great as a cordial or "champagne" but they work really well with gooseberries in recipes. Try 3 tablespoons of cordial when you are making your gooseberry fool, add a bit of vanilla essence plus some rich custard to really make it creamy and you will have a fabulous pudding.

I'm looking forward to the next glut of fruit to come, the plums, apples and pears. If you want to go see the fruit in situ, Brogdale National Fruit Collection near Faversham in Kent is a wonderful place to visit throughout the year. It runs throughout the summer festivals for specific fruit, such as plums, cherries and apples; as well as for nuts; and you can gorge yourself, plucking straight from the tree, as you walk around the site while learning about the hundreds of varieties of fruit from the extremely knowledgable staff.

 I may be a West Country girl, but the South East is also renowned for its cider (the alcoholic drink, Hard Cider, for any US readers of my blog), unsurprisingly for a county known for its apples. There is even the National Cider Collection that can be visited at Middle Farm near Lewes, one of my favourite places to take visitors out to. Perfect for children with an Open Farm, plus a great tea room and restaurant, the Cider collection as well as a fabulous farm shop. Here's a photo of me and some of my friends on a trip to Middle Farm a couple of years ago. We did bring children along, though I think we are the big kids here!!

My friends and I enjoying Middle Farm!